


Day 316

by Josh_the_Bard



Series: A Year in Kirkwall [316]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:47:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27533998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Josh_the_Bard/pseuds/Josh_the_Bard
Series: A Year in Kirkwall [316]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1589257
Kudos: 2





	Day 316

Cicilia burst into the safehouse in a panic. The other members of her Coterie cell were on their feet with weapons drawn before she could get a word out. Only the insignia on her lapel saved her from being shanked.

“What’s happened,” Guelfo asked, pulling Cicilia all the way inside and shutting the door.

“The assassin failed,” Cicilia said. “Tethras survived and now he’s coming after us.”

“I knew we should have just cut out losses,” Lara said. She and Guelfo moved a chest in front of the door to block entry. There was a hidden back way out that would take them to the beach. Hopefully they could hire a ship from there.

“Money was too good,” Vinced said as they scooped all their valuables into sacks they could carry. This wasn’t the first time they had to cut and run.

“How long do we have?” Guelfo asked. 

“The messenger said they were on their way here as we speak,” Cicilia said. She could feel the temperature in the room drop. She hoped it was her imagination and not a spirit the Champion summoned coming to take their souls. The twins, Leon and Caius activated the secret backdoor and the others gathered around, ready to flee. 

Just as they turned the latch on the secret door there was a loud bang on the front door.

“Kirkwall city guard,” came the unmistakable bellow of Guard Captain Aveline. “Open this door at once.”

“Should we surrender?” Lara wondered aloud. A little too loud for Cicilia and she slapped the other women to shut her up. Another bang came now, more forceful than the last but, thankfully, the door held for now.

“Keep your blighted voice down,” Cicilia hissed. “Now they know we’re in here.”

Leon and Caius finally managed to get the back door open and everyone tried to go through at once. The result was that none of them made it through, but another bang accompanied by the sound of splintering wood made them remember the value of cooperation. Leon, Caius and Lara made it through before the top half of the door was completely bashed open. The bottom half remained closed and Cicilia thought that meant they would have enough time to escape but then the hail of arrows came. A string of bolts flew across the room. Cicilia managed to duck through the door and into the passage but she was sprayed by blood when a bolt tore clean through Guelfo’s chest. They locked eyes and Cicilai could see the moment he realized that he was dead.

Cicilia was frozen in terror for a moment but Vinced shoved her deeper into the passage, sealing the door behind them. As soon as they were safe, Vinced collapsed into Cicilai’s arms.

“My leg,” he moaned. Cicilia looked down to see a bolt lodged into the man’s knee. He could barely stand, let alone walk. 

“We need to help Vinced,” Cicilai called to the others. “The door will buy us a few minutes,” she added when the others hesitated. Between the four of them they managed to help Vinced limp along.

This time, Cicilia was sure the cold was not in her imagination. They had lit some torches to see by, and they revealed tendrils of ice covering the door. Cicilia had just enough time to wonder what they were doing when the door blew apart with a thunderous explosion of rock.

Guard Captain Aveline was silhouetted in the doorway. Cicilia had never been so afraid in her life as when she saw that silhouette move towards them. Not a charge, just a slow, steady advance, shield raised. Lara lined up a shot with a crossbow and fired. The bold sank into Aveline’s shield and even penetrated a few inches but failed to find flesh. The weapon would take too long to reload so Lara dropped it.

“Leave me,” Vinced shouted, studying himself on one leg. “I’ll buy you what time I can.”

‘What time he could’ turned out to be almost no time at all. He swung his daggers at Aveline, trying to get inside her guard, but her shield seemed to be covering everywhere at once. He managed only a single attack before she cut him down. 

Cicilia and the others took off at full speed but only made it a few steps before a magical glyph flared to life in front of them. Leon was in front and couldn’t stop in time. When his foot touched the sigle, he was flung backwards and into the others. They fell in a mass of tangled limbs. Only Lara managed to maintain her footing. She jumped over the glyph, kicking off the wall to gain more height. Just before she landed, however, another, different glyph appeared on the far side of the first. She landed right in the middle of it and froze where she was. A faint green energy surrounded her, keeping her in place.

Cicilia was on her feet before the twins and followed Lara’s path over the first glyph. The trap on the far side was already activated but she landed wrong and rolled her ankle. She ignored the pain for now and looked back to see an elf pop out of the ground right behind the slowly advancing Aveline. Cicilia hoped they didn’t stick around long enough to learn what else she could do.

Leon and Caius were on their feet now. They tried to pull off a clever maneuver where they kicked off opposite walls to clear the glyph at the same time. It might have worked, but mid-air vines spring from the ground and snatched them. The vines retracted, pulling them both towards Aveline who killed them in two swift strikes.

Cicilia tried to grab and drag Lara to safety but the magic would not let her budge.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered before leaving her friend to die. She didn’t look back but could hear the sword slicing Lara’s flesh. She fought back tears of pain, sorrow, and fear as she pressed on. When she was sure she was out of sight of Lara’s body, Cicilia checked bahid her. Aveline was gaining ground on her and there was a lot of tunnel left to go.

Cicilia still had a few tricks up her sleeve. She tossed a combustion grenade at the guard captain but it, like all the other attacks, hit only shield. Aveline strode out of the smoke, undaunted. 

Cicilia threw every knife she had at the woman but had no more luck. She tried to sprint away but her injured ankle buckled under her and she hit the dirt. She crawled as far as she could before she felt a steel boot on her back, pinning her in place. She knew what was going to come next. A swift jab that would end it all. With no tricks left to play, all she could do was close her eyes and accept her fate.


End file.
